


You’re my sunshine sunshine, the dazzling sky seems like your background

by stardustintheirveins



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 乐华七子NEXT | NEX7, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: If You Squint - Freeform, M/M, implied! Cai Xukun / Zhu Zhengting, implied! Zhou Yanchen / Ding Zeren, just softness in general
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 18:44:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14171205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustintheirveins/pseuds/stardustintheirveins
Summary: The afternoon light was casting shadows across his face and the older one had to admit that his best friend was gorgeous, not that he would ever say it out loud because despite having angelic looks, he was a little spawn of Satan who made his life hell most of the time.





	You’re my sunshine sunshine, the dazzling sky seems like your background

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Bicycle- Jung In & Gary, a perfect song for summers imo 
> 
> The last time I wrote for a ship was back in 2015 and I guess IPD and Chengstin brought me back ╰(*´︶`*)╯  
> It's been a lovely four months with the boys and the fandom ♥ Let's continue to support them :)
> 
> Non-betaed
> 
> If you want to scream at me or just say hi on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chengkunist)  
> or on [ cc ](https://curiouscat.me/xuchengist)

It was one of those lazy yet perfect days, according to Chengcheng. Sunlight was peeping in through the cracks between the curtains, bathing the room in soft, warm light and the only sounds that reached their ears were those of the pages rustling and the faintest of music from one of Justin's numerous lo-fi hiphop playlists he downloaded religiously from Youtube. He was perched on the bed, his books spread out before him. The position was a strategic one, in his opinion, because he had a clear view of Justin who was lying on his stomach on the carpet-and he could reach him with his foot to nudge him awake every ten minutes.  
The two of them weren't even in the same class but they found it easier to study together to which Zhengting had stated, 'Because you text each other the whole time when you're apart.' He had said it in a very flippant tone, as if it was a fact and everyone knew about it. It made sense but since it was their ge who had told them, they had both denied it vehemently-not that anyone cared or believed them. 

Right now, Chengcheng could see Justin beginning to doze off again for the nth time. The afternoon light was casting shadows across his face and the older one had to admit that his best friend was gorgeous, not that he would ever say it out loud because despite having angelic looks, he was a little spawn of Satan who made his life hell most of the time.

'Hey.'

'Ge, i'm tired,' came the immediate response from the younger, a pout already on his lips. 

'Come here, let's take a break.'

At the word break, the younger one immediately flopped himself up on the bed, his limbs hanging over Chengcheng.

'Yah.'

'Let me rest for a while. My head hurts.'

'From dozing off?'

'Leave me alone,' Justin whined, nestling his head into the crook of the other's shoulders. Chengcheng squirmed, the small breaths against his skin tickling and yet comforting at the same time. Realizing this, his best friend proceeded to blow more air, laughing when he was shoved away. It didn't deter him, however, from crawling over and sticking his head in the same position again. 'Justin...'

'I won't do it again, I promise. Just let me snuggle with you for a while, ge.'

After a few minutes, his breathing had evened out and he was letting out gentle snores. Chengcheng looked down at his best friend amusedly. For all the energy Justin had on usual days, he was always rather pliant and lazy when it was just the two of them. It was as if he automatically became a softer version of himself- quiet, more mellow and more open- letting down his guards and allowing the elder to see through the walls he usually put up to protect himself. He was the younger one but Chengcheng sometimes felt Justin had lived more years than him because he didn't see the innocence which he associated with people his age. Maybe it was because Justin came from a large family in which he was the middle child who always knew how to take care of himself which led to his parents not paying him as much attention, hoping and perhaps knowing he'd be able to handle himself. Or maybe it had to do with the fact that despite his young age, he had already been exposed to the truth that the world wasn't just rainbows and sunshine, from the endless dance competitions and practice which had made him wary of others and instilled a sense of responsibility. Whatever it was, it didn't change the fact that Chengcheng always felt a strong sense of protectiveness when it came to the younger and even though he couldn't claim to be the most protective one (Zhengting took the spot), he was always looking out for him and doing his best to make sure he wasn't too carried away by his inner thoughts and insecurities.

'You're thinking too loudly,' a voice whispered in his ear. Tilting his head, he could see Justin peering up at him with big eyes. 'I'm fine.'

'Who said you aren't?'

'You. With your body language.' Justin shrugged off the older's hand that had instinctively come around his shoulders. 'I'm fine, ge.' He put his head on Chengcheng's chest and smiled down at the elder. 'You should stop hanging around Zhengting-ge so much. You're catching his worrying disease.'

'I still have a long way to go for that. Be glad I'm not as bad as him.' This was accompanied with a loud flick on the younger's forehead. 

'What did you do that for?' Justin glared at his best friend who just smiled back wryly at him. 

'Are you sure you're okay? I know the next competition is really huge and you're taking part in two sequences, furthermore, it's with the ges this time. If you're feeling too much stress, tell me okay? I can tell Zhengting ge if you want me to.'

'I can tell him myself, Chengcheng. I'm not ten years old.' Justin pouted.

'I'm not implying that you are. But sometimes you get too carried away with your passion for dance that you forget to take care of yourself.' Chengcheng flicked the younger lightly on the mouth. 

Justin sighed, looking away. 'It's... a little more difficult, I have to admit. The ges have been in the dancing scene way longer than I have and they're all very passionate about it. So there's more pressure for me to perform better, not that they're giving me stress or anything. It's just that I can't pull them down so I need to practice every move and perfect it. Coupled with school and everything, it's a little hard, I guess.' 

'Hey, you're an amazing dancer, okay. You may be younger than them but you're definitely not lacking in any way. Or else they wouldn't have picked you, a small weeb to dance with them.'

'Wow thanks.' Justin levelled a half-hearted glare at his bestfriend who just gave him a cheeky grin. 

'I'm serious though. Xukun ge was telling me that you pick up the moves really quickly and you have really good expressions on stage. And that's a lot coming from him.' 

'Really?' Justin's expression perked up, making the older snort.

'Don't be so obvious about your crush on ge.'

Justin opened his mouth but Chengcheng hurried on, his ears slightly burning at his own words. Love interests were not a thing he wanted to delve into, at the very moment. He had his own heart to worry about but as the older one, Justin's best interests always came first. 'Whipped' a voice whispered in his head and he tried to ignore the fact that it sounded suspiciously like Zhengting. 

'Zhengting ge said the same but he also told me you seem to be worrying a bit, even though you're not really obvious about it. He asked to convince you that you're doing a great job so far and you're not lagging behind in any way. And even if you have a problem, you can trust the seniors to help you. You're a team, Justin and they would rather you share with them your worries than shut yourself away and hurt yourself again.' 

'Why should I believe you?' Justin prodded, nestling the older's hand resting on top of his head like a cat asking to be petted. Chengcheng automatically started weaving his fingers through the brown locks. 

'Do I ever lie to you?'

Justin scrunched his eyebrows. 'Plenty of times. Especially when it comes to food.'

'Yah.'

He laughed. 'No, you don't lie to me.'

'Then why should I lie to you about this, about the one thing that makes you happy, Justin? I've seen for myself that you've been practising. I come around to your practice room every evening and I can see how much effort you're putting into it. So don't ever doubt yourself.'

'Wait, you've been coming every evening? When?' Justin sat up.

Chengcheng shrugged. 'My basketball practice ends before yours.'

'It's across the campus!' Justin furrowed his eyebrows. 

'Not really?'

'Fan Chengcheng.'

'Enough about that. I hope I got some sense knocked into you and now you know that the guys are there for you.'

'Yah. Fan Chengcheng. Stop trying to change the subject.'

'I'm not?' Chengcheng looked at Justin who was staring at him with the most determined look. 'Okay fine.' He laid back down on the bed, patting the spot next to him. 'I won't say anything until you come back to snuggle. You're not very intimidating, sitting like that and staring at me.'

Justin huffed and threw himself next to the older boy, turning his head to his side and looking at him. 

'So yeah. I've been heading over to your room every evening after practice just to keep an eye on you and making sure you're drinking enough water and not pushing yourself too hard.'

'Where do you even see me from?' Justin quipped, looking so confused Chengcheng felt like laughing. 

'If you haven't noticed, the practice room doors have glass windows running down the centre, Justin. Anyone can peep inside. It's not my fault that you never noticed.'

'So what else have you been doing?' Justin murmured, his fingers skipping lightly over the older's cheeks and causing the elder's eyes to flutter shut.

'Looking out for you. That's it.'

'So does that mean that all the free energy drinks Zhengting-ge, Kun-ge, Ziyi-ge, Yanchen-ge, and Zeren-ge have been giving me are not from you?' The fingers stopped dancing along his skin and Chengcheng opened his eyes to see Justin's face looming over him. 

'Maybe.'

Justin huffed out a small laugh. 'You suck at lying, ge. Especially to me. So I don't know why you're still pretending.' He hung his head lower, his fringe tickling Chengcheng's forehead. They were close enough that Chengcheng could see every eyelash and every small freckle and mole. He sighed, putting his hand up to Justin's face and shoving it away from him. His best friend was causing him more pain than necessary.

'You little brat. What are you trying to make me do? Confess my undying love for you?'

Justin snorted. 'If you want to.'

'Do I even need to confess since Mr. Smarty Pants already knows everything,' Chengcheng rolled his eyes. 

'Not everything. But Mr. Cute and Irresistible Justin would like to know.' Justin put his head on his hands and winked. Chengcheng whined. 'You're disgusting. Why do I even like you?'

'But you still chose me as your best friend.'

Chengcheng grabbed Justin in a headlock and rapped his knuckles against his forehead. 'I should have just trusted my instincts and gone in search of a better one.' 

Justin tried to shrug his hands off from where they were placed on both sides of his head, whining. 'You suck. You suck even more than Zeren ge who shouted at Yanchen ge from the other side of the road and called it a confession and proceeded to give him a stapler set on Valentine's Day because he felt he needed it to organise his files.'

Chengcheng laughed and placed a soft kiss on Justin's forehead, on the same spot that was turning red from the brunt of his knuckles. 'You're my best friend and even though you annoy me to hell sometimes, I love you. Is that better?'

Justin flopped over, turning around to face him. His cheeks were dusted a little pink and Chengcheng wanted to coo over how cute he looked. 'You're so sappy. I hate you.' With that, he proceeded to hide his face in his favourite spot, between his ge's shoulders, as if it could save him from the embarrassment.

'Okay. Good to know.' Chengcheng laughed, hand coming up to ruffle the younger one's head. 'You save me a lot of money then. I can finally stop the energy drinks and these studying sessions too.'

Justin kicked his shin, head popping up. 'Don't you dare.'

'Why not?' Chengcheng stuck out his tongue at the younger, finding delight in the way Justin's ears turned redder with each passing second. It wasn't often that he could get the younger one flustered. It was usually the other way around.  
'Does the baby want another kiss?' he asked, causing Justin to scrunch up his nose like a cat. 

'I hate you, ge. I hate you so much.'

Chengcheng laughed. 'I actually don't have to worry much when it comes to you unless Xukun ge finally realizes your big fat crush on him and in the unlikeliest of situations, dumps Zhengting ge and confesses to you.'

'I don't have a crush on him,' Justin mumbled from where his head was buried in the sheets. 'You're the one who screams like a fanboy when he dances.'

'How can I have a crush on him when I have a crush on you?' Chengcheng teased.

Justin whined again, hand coming up to smack his best friend. Said best friend caught the hand and proceeded to lay the gentlest of kisses on it. 'I'm serious though. I'm still your best friend and I will always be, as long as you want me'

 

Justin looked up. Chengcheng smiled down at him. While they had been talking, the sun had gone down even more in the afternoon sky and the warm, yellow light was bathing everything in the room in a soft glow. He had never seen his best friend so flustered, a warm blush dusting across his cheeks and his big, brown eyes looking earnestly up at him. 'It's okay. You can even pretend to forget about it if it makes you uncomfortable.' Chengcheng turned his palm over and squeezed it gently. 'You have a lot on your plate right now. Don't let me be another thing to stress over.'

Justin sat up, keeping his hand where it lay in his best friend's own. 'Don't even think you're another thing for me to stress over. You're my best friend and you're always there to help me out. I would never not want you not near me.' He put out his free hand, palm up and smiled when Chengcheng laid his other hand on top of it. 

'Thank you for talking to me about my dance, and also for providing all the drinks. They really helped. And thank you for always looking out for me, ge.' He looked up and gave him a soft smile. 'And thank you for loving me. I love you too.' He shuffled closer to the elder and put his head on his shoulder, arms coming around in a hug. 'I hate you and you annoy me so much, with your stupid jokes and loud laughter and your stupid pranks. You're the personification of secondhand embarrassment but that doesn't change the fact that I really love you.'

Chengcheng huffed, pulling him closer and planted a small kiss on top of his hair. 'Good to know, Justin.'

Justin barked out a small laugh. 'You're the lamest. You're giving Zeren-ge a run for his position.'

'Shut up kid. The break is over.'

 

･ﾟ･ ･ﾟ･ ･ﾟ･ ･ﾟ･ ･ﾟ･ ･ﾟ･ ･ﾟ･

 

'Ge...'

'Mmmm?' 

'I love you.'

'Do your homework, Justin.'

'I love you too.'


End file.
